


you won't remember in the morning

by hotgirl



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different Mastermind (Dangan Ronpa), Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Mental Health Issues, Non-Despair Enoshima Junko, Pining, Trans Female Fujisaki Chihiro, but tagged are more explicit/canon, but with murder, ships are abt as present as in the games, technically
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:08:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27252442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hotgirl/pseuds/hotgirl
Summary: My name is Ryōko Otonashi, I'm the Ultimate Analyst, I'm trapped in what this annoying little teddy bear keeps calling a mutual killing game, and I just want to see Tsumiki-senpai. — ryōko/mikan, kirigiri/celeste, background: taka/mondo, hina/sakuraor: danganronpa but we get a female mc, and this has nothing to do with her
Relationships: Class 78 & Otonashi Ryouko, Kirigiri Kyoko/Celestia Ludenberg, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Otonashi Ryouko/Tsumiki Mikan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30





	you won't remember in the morning

**Author's Note:**

> title comes from lorde's [sober ii (melodrama)](https://genius.com/Lorde-sober-ii-melodrama-lyrics)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ryōko is like, in terms of personality, the ryōko otonashi of dr0, but she's also NOT the ryōko otonashi of dr0?? if that makes sense?? i made her gay bc i can and bc im a ryōko/mikan supremacist as we all should be. since this is a mm au and she's canonly what non-despair junko looks like, ryōko is replacing mukuro!junko.
> 
> also chihiro is a trans girl bc while yes the way she's written is transmisogynistic, the general consensus i've seen from transfem people is that she's a girl, danganronpa just sucks, and i want to respect that.
> 
> i plan on seeing this fic through til the end bc i want to see some respect on ryōko's name!!

The gate in front of me is huge and intimidating as I make some notes to myself in my memory notebook. I'm seventeen, and I'm what my new school, Hope's Peak Academy, calls an Ultimate, which is just a pretentious word to describe someone who's really talented in a certain field, basically. I'm what you might call the Ultimate Analyst, despite having some memory problems.

When I was six, I was diagnosed with ADHD and one of my symptoms is short term memory loss. I don't forget everything, but what I do forget usually ends up being important information. According to my notebook, I did forget something pretty important actually: the time I was supposed to arrive for our entrance ceremony.

Jeez, and here I thought I left at an appropriate time. No wonder my big sister wasn't up when I left; she must have been asleep.

I enter Hope's Peak Academy, ready to kill the hour remaining until the ceremony, and then—damn.

I must have forgotten something. Why am I sitting at this desk? Did I pass out in a classroom? That's not like me... I get bored a lot in class, but I never sleep through them.

Oh! That's right! I took a nap because I got here so early on accident. Okay, well, it's almost eight now, so I better hurry over to the entrance ceremony. Except... are those metal plates on the windows? Why does this classroom like a prison? Did something happen, or did I fall asleep in some kind of extremely messed up remedial classroom? Matsuda-kun and Tsumiki-senpai said that Hope's Peak could be kind of severe... maybe this is what they meant? It must be... it's too strange otherwise.

I go to write this down, but my memory notebook is nowhere to be seen. My name's written on it, so there's no way someone else picked it up by accident. I must have dropped it on my way to this class.

The hallways are pretty weird looking too... I don't remember them being like that before I took my nap. Maybe I'm just disoriented from my nap right now. I'm sure this school is about as normal as a place like this could be. I do wish Tsumiki-senpai was here to hold my hand, though, but I always wish that...

Anyway, even she would tell me I'm being childish right now! I'm sure there's nothing to freak out about.

When I enter the main hall, it looks like most of my classmates are there already. "Um... hi, my name is Ryōko Otonashi, and I'm in Class 78. Am I late?" I ask them from the entrance.

"Yes," a snobby-looking boy says at the same time a short guy in a hoodie reassures me that I'm not.

"It's nice to meet you, Otonashi-san! My name is Sayaka Maizono. We're all in Class 78 too! Looks like there's fifteen of us." a blue-haired girl smiles at me. I definitely recognize her; she's the Ultimate Idol.

"Why are you late?" the snobby boy asks. I immediately hate him.

"Um, I got here really early, then I fell asleep in some kind of... screwed up remedial classroom. Sorry," I admit sheepishly, "but have any of you seen a notebook that says Ryōko Otonashi's Memory Notebook on it? I think I dropped it earlier."

They respond with a collective headshake and some grumbling about how no, they haven't seen anything like that.

Then: "wait, Otonashi-san, you woke up in a weird classroom too?"

I nod.

A girl dressed in lolita attire looks at me thoughtfully. "Things keep getting curiouser and curiouser," she hums.

"This is very strange! The strangest situation, indeed," a... rather plump boy agrees with her.

A guy with alarming eyebrows screeches my name and points at me angrily. "Your tardiness is inexcusable! Our opening ceremony was supposed to start at 8 AM sharp! Being late on your very first day is unacceptable!" he declares. Wh... we haven't even started school yet; how am I getting yelled at by such a strange character?

"... Isn't it only 7:58?" I ask, feeling annoyed with this.

"Heyyy, how about we all calm down? Let's introduce ourselves to our classmates!" an athletic-looking girl suggests.

Jeez, it's like all the girls in my class are insanely pretty. Not as pretty as Tsumiki-senpai, though... I wanna see Tsumiki-senpai.

I guess for now I should meet my classmates, though. Even though this hall is definitely suspicious. I mean what's up with that big vault door? And those cameras... are they equipped with guns? This isn't how Tsumiki-senpai and Matsuda-kun described Hope's Peak Academy at all.

... It has nothing to do with me, even if it's my school, so I introduce myself to the guy closest to me instead of analyzing the situation more. This plump guy, it turns out, is Hifumi Yamada, the Ultimate Fanfic Creator.

I don't think that's something he should brag about, but I guess even cool people like my childhood friend Matsuda-kun can be otakus. Then again, from the way he talks about himself, I don't think he's anything like Matsuda-kun. For one, he seems like a total pervert. I swear Yamada didn't make eye contact with me once while we were talking.

The really short guy is Makoto Naegi. He seems nice, but I feel bad for him considering how much taller than him I am—and his talent isn't that cool either. The Ultimate Lucky Student, what does that even mean? At least he's not a _total_ pervert—even if his gaze is a little low—or an otaku like Yamada, though. If anything, he's almost suspiciously normal.

Someone taps me on the shoulder to introduce herself before Naegi-san and I can talk much. When I turn around, I see the lolita-looking girl. "I am Celestia Ludenberg, the Ultimate Gambler. I would rather you call me Celeste," she introduces herself in a weird accent I can't place.

"Oh, are you hāfu too?" I ask.

"I'm a quarter Japanese" Celeste-san says, "my mother is French and Japanese and my father is German. You're... also mixed. What is your mother?" It should be a normal question, but she says it like she wants me to drop dead. Eesh.

"Something white? Sorry, I was adopted, so I don't really know," I tell her.

"So you're only in touch with your Japanese heritage! Ah, of course," she giggles like she doesn't want to murder me anymore... what a suspicious girl.

After that painful conversation, I introduce myself to a girl in a leather jacket and gloves. She's barely even willing to tell me her name is Kyōko Kirigiri, let alone what her talent is or anything she likes or dislikes. I give up on talking to her pretty quickly.

Thankfully, the guy with the angry eyebrows asks to speak with me almost immediately after I realize Kirigiri-san won't respond to me. "My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru, but you may call me Taka. I would like to apologize to you for yelling at you earlier!" he bows.

"Um, don't worry about it," I tell him. Jeez, this guy must be the Ultimate Hall Monitor or something.

I go on meeting my classmates like that until finally all that's left is the snobby boy who was rude to me. His name as I, unfortunately, have to learn is Byakuya Togami and his talent sounds like it's just being rich, which makes me kind of want to kill him.

I'll need to write everyone's names and talents down as soon as possible so I don't forget anyone.

Gah. Let's see, there was Sakura Ogami, the Ultimate Martial Artist. She was really nice despite her intimidating appearance, but we didn't talk very much because she said I wasn't a suitable sparring partner for her. I'm glad about that; she looks like she could snap me in two.

I also met Leon Kuwata, the Ultimate Baseball Star, or something? I don't care about sports, and he didn't seem particularly important, so I didn't really listen to anything he said. He doesn't concern me.

That athletic-looking girl was Aoi Asahina, the Ultimate Swimming Pro. She seemed a little ditzy, but she was really sweet, and it's not like I'm not ditzy or anything. Anyway, she said I could call her Hina, which I guess means we're friends?

The burly dude said his name was Mondo Ōwada, and he acted the exact way I thought he would when I looked at him. He was the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader, which is a really suspicious talent. I'm gonna stay away from that guy.

The guy who asked about waking up in a weird room was Yasuhiro Hagakure, the Ultimate Clairvoyant. He was kind of weird, but he seemed nice enough. Definitely not a pervert or a suspicious person even though he's been held back a few times!

This kind of doelike girl said her name was Chihiro Fujisaki and that she was the Ultimate Programmer. She seemed nerdy but definitely harmless. I got the vibe she hasn't had a lot of friends though.

And, finally, there was this really timid looking girl, Tōko Fukawa. She was really defensive, so I didn't get very far with her, but I think her talent has something to with writing? Damn, did I already forget something? I'm sure she told me about her talent.

Before I can think too much about it, someone taps my shoulder and chirps, "Otonashi-san!"

I spin around to see Maizono-san. "Oh, hi. You already introduced yourself to me, Maizono-san. I think."

"I know, but I wanted to talk to you a little more! I really like your outfit," she smiles.

"Thanks," I scratch my cheek, "I like yours too."

"Sorry," she whispers, "but the truth is I wanted to get away from Naegi-kun. We went to junior high together, and he's sweet, but he's a little..."

I hammer my fist into my palm in victory. "So he _is_ suspicious!"

"You were thinking he must be suspicious because he's so normal," she nods.

I recoil a bit. How did she know that?

"I'm psychic," she says, deadly serious. Then, she giggles, "just kidding! I'm just intuitive!" She lowers her voice to say this next part, "Naegi-kun isn't suspicious, but he's a little sexist. I don't think he means to be, but he can be a little... objectifying." 

"Damn. He seemed nice when I talked to him, but, now that you mention it, I did think his gaze was a little low... I thought it was just 'cause he's so short, though," I note, "I better write that down." I go to grab my memory notebook from my schoolbag, only to realize my schoolbag isn't there.

"You mentioned that you lost something you called a memory notebook earlier," Maizono-san tells me.

That's right. I forgot, but when I woke up, I noticed my memory notebook was missing.

"Say, do you mind telling me what the Ultimate Analyst needs a memory notebook for?" she asks.

I can tell that Maizono-san isn't a suspicious person, and she already knows the notebook exists, so there's no harm in me telling her why I have it. "I have some memory problems," I admit, "so I write things down to make sure that even if I forget, I'll have access to the information. My friend Matsuda-kun came up with the idea when we were kids! Matsuda-kun, my big sister, and Tsumiki-senpai have always looked out for me like that. Actually, Matsuda-kun and Tsumiki-senpai are students at Hope's Peak, too. They're in Class 77!"

Fujisaki-san speaks before Maizono-san can reply. "H—hey, is anyone else missing their stuff?" she asks.

"Now that you mention it, yeah," Naegi-san admits. A few other people agree.

So it's not just me. This is getting very suspicious. Scratch that, this has been suspicious, I just haven't wanted to acknowledge it. Gah. Why can't I focus and analyze the situation thoroughly? Did I forget to take my medication this morning? Even if I didn't, my classmates' back and forth about who didn't get enough sleep and if this situation seems illegal isn't helping me to focus.

All of a sudden, a bell dings, and the most annoying voice I've ever heard starts saying some cliché nonsense like "testing, testing."

My head is starting to hurt. I should tie my hair up. I tune out the annoying voice as I put my hair up into a ponytail.

"Otonashi-san, c'mon, we're supposed to go to the gym for the opening ceremony," Maizono-san says. It looks like most of our classmates have already left, but she waited for me anyway.

I follow after her, still rubbing my head and wishing I could properly analyze this situation.

"Hey... is it just me or is there no one but our class here?" she asks all of a sudden.

I glance up and look around the hall. "They must be in class... right? There's no way it's just us... that's too unreasonable," I murmur.

Thankfully, when we get the gym, it does at least _look_ like a normal entrance ceremony. Or, it does up until the ugliest teddy bear I've ever seen pops up.

"Is—is that a teddy bear?" Fujisaki-san asks.

The teddy bear doesn't like that. "I'm NOT a teddy bear! I'm Monokuma, your headmaster!" But Tsumiki-senpai and Matsuda-kun _definitely_ didn't mention a stuffed animal headmaster... even my memory isn't this bad, you know.

"The teddy bear talks?" Yamada exclaims.

"No, it must just have a speaker in it," Taka-san reasons.

The teddy bear throws something at both of them for that. "I told you all! I'm your headmaster, Monokuma!" it (he?) shouts.

This is too bizarre. I must be having a weird dream. Soon, Aneki will wake me up and tell me I'm gonna be late for my real opening ceremony, and then I'll meet my real classmates and my real headmaster. I'll get to see Tsumiki-senpai then too. I want to see Tsumiki-senpai.

"I am not a child's plaything!" Monokuma insists loudly, "I can't BEAR to have my students disrespecting me and my complex machinery! It's too cruel!"

"A bear pun?" Celeste-san asks, "that is quite unfortunate... very tasteless."

Monokuma ignores her and tells us we're moving on. "Good morning!" he beams(? It's hard to tell with his mouth) at us. Taka-san says it back. What a weirdo, sucking up to an ugly little teddy bear like that. Monokuma starts talking about how our school life will be before I can linger on that thought too long. Apparently, we're going to be living a "communal life together in the confines of Hope's Peak Academy." Seriously, this can't be the same Hope's Peak Matsuda-kun and Tsumiki-senpai go to. "Now, regarding the ending of this communal life... there isn't one!"

What?

"You're just screwing with us, right?" I ask.

"Yeah, you've gotta be lying," Ōwada-san groans.

"Huh? How dare you suggest that! I'm no liar!" he bites back. "You brats are gonna be completely cut off from the outside world, so you shouldn't worry about anything like life outside anymore, okay?"

So those metal plates on the window were to keep us trapped here after all. There's no way. This is like something out of one of Matsuda-kun's manga books. Something like this can't happen in real life, so this has nothing to do with me.

I listen to my classmates argue with Monokuma about how this has to be some kind of fucked up lie, but he keeps insisting that it's not, and we'll have plenty of time trapped in here to realize he's telling us the truth.

"Being trapped here... that would be rather unfortunate," Celeste-san hums.

Monokuma makes a pouting face. Or as close to a pouting face as his weird little bear head can make. "Awww, you don't mean that! Then again, there is a graduation clause! If a student wants to graduate and leave, they must disrupt the harmony of the class environment!"

"... D—disrupt the harmony?" Fukawa-san asks.

Monokuma starts laughing heinously. If I thought his voice was the most annoying sound, I was wrong; it's definitely his laugh. What kind of deranged laugh goes puhuhu? He breaks my train of thought when he speaks though, "like murdering each other!"

There's a collective outburst of shock and disbelief from us all.

I want to wake up now. I want to see Tsumiki-senpai, and I want to play with her hair while she reassures me Hope's Peak is nothing like this. I want to be dreaming because there's no way a situation like this could have anything to do with me.

"Maizono-san, pinch me," I request.

She does.

I don't wake up.

Am I not dreaming? Is this really happening? But how could I ever believe this?

"You can kill each other in any manner, but you have to get away with the murder to graduate!" Monokuma says, "it's exciting right? Huh? The hope of the world murdering each other in a mutual killing game? It sure gets my blood flowing!"

"You can't mean that we have to kill each other—there's no way!" Naegi-san exclaims.

"Huh? Are you stupid?" Monokuma asks, "what else would I mean?"

"He's not stupid! There's just no way we can be expected to believe something like this! Why do we have to kill each other anyway?" Hina objects.

Yamada begs Monokuma to just let us go home. Monokuma doesn't listen to him. "None of you get it, do you? All this repetition! Listen to me, brats, this school is your home now, and the only way out is to kill! Kill whoever you want! Kill whenever you want! Just kill each other!"

It's finally starting to sink in. This isn't a dream. This is reality. Somehow, this is the same Hope's Peak that Matsuda-kun and Tsumiki-senpai told me about. But if that's the case...

"What happened to Class 77?" I ask.

Monokuma looks at me for a long, cold moment before he speaks, "you don't care about Class 77, Ryōko." He's not wrong. Aside from Matsuda-kun and Tsumiki-senpai, they have nothing to do with me. "You're worried about your precious Tsumiki and Matsuda, right?"

I nod.

He laughs that disgusting puhuhu laugh again, then says, "I can't tell you about them just yet! That's a spoiler!

He hurt them. He hurt Matsuda-kun and Tsumiki-senpai. Wherever they are, they're not okay. They might not even be alive. He hurt them, he hurt them, he hurt them, he hurt them, he hurt them, he hurt them—I see red, and then my hands are around that stupid, ugly bastard bear's neck.

"Manhandling the headmaster is strictly against school policy!" He screeches. Then he starts beeping.

I hear Ōwada-san asking if Monokuma doesn't have some kind of comeback, but I know what's wrong immediately.

"What are you waiting for, Otonashi? Throw it!" Kirigiri-san commands.

I do as she says, and then it explodes, breaking the back wall of the stage. I've never seen a real explosion before. I could have died. Holy shit. But... it's over, isn't it?

"Puhuhu!"

It's not.

"Otonashi-san, are you okay?" someone asks. I'm too disoriented from what just happened to tell who's speaking to me, but I'm definitely not okay. My best friend and the girl I'm in love with might be dead. How could I ever be okay right now?

I find myself zoning out as the new Monokuma waves around some weird looking gadget. Right now, something like that doesn't concern me. I just want to see Tsumiki-senpai, but she's...

Maizono-san grabs my hand. "Otonashi-san?" she murmurs, and the world comes back into focus.

"... Yeah?" I ask.

"I... Let's make a pact not to let anything bad happen to each other, okay?" she asks but it comes out like a plea.

I nod in agreement. Violence has never been something I have any interest in, and Maizono-san seems like someone trustworthy. Still, knowing that we're going to try to protect each other doesn't make me any less uneasy about this situation.

The rest of our classmates aren't handling this situation any better than me and Maizono-san. At least, not until Kirigiri-san tells everyone to calm down. She wants to summarize what just happened, but there's no use for me in doing that if I can't write it down too.

"Kirigiri-san got your notebook back from Monokuma," Maizono-san informs me as though she read my mind.

On cue, Kirigiri-san holds it up and hands it to me. "Otonashi, write down I'm about to say as well as any other information you think is important. Based on what Monokuma said, we have two choices: we can live a happy, communal life together until we die or we can kill someone to try to escape."

Fujisaki-san and Fukawa-san both tremble at that. I don't blame them.

"H—hey! How can we start killing each other after we were abducted like this?" Yamada exclaims.

"We can't! There's no way this can be real!" Taka-san shouts.

Kirigiri-san looks kind of annoyed with them both.

Then: "is anyone thinking of actually going through with this?" Togami asks.

That question feels like it cuts through us all as people start to take steps back from each other. I hold onto Maizono-san's hand even tighter as I try to think if anyone here is capable of murder. Sure, some of us seem like suspicious characters, but isn't murder too much? Even for someone like Ōwada-san, it has to be... but then why am I feeling so uneasy?

"There's no way any of us are actually thinking about that!" Naegi-san says, bursting with so much faux confidence that it would be reassuring. if I couldn't tell that even he was having his doubts about that.

Even if one of my classmates doesn't kill me, I'm going to die in Hope's Peak Academy. I'm really going to die. I'm really never going to see Tsumiki-senpai or Matsuda-kun or Aneki or my parents ever again. All thanks to that ugly little bear. No. All thanks to whoever is controlling that bear.

But what kind of person could be behind something this evil? I'm not sure I even want to imagine who or what they could be, but I wonder... can I escape this school if I uncover their identity?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love comments even if ur just like. spitballing a theory u might have!
> 
> my tumblr is @mukuroapologist if u care abt that also


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